a little bit of this and that about nothing and everything

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Month: January 2016

Had a bunch of lemons leftover from a chicken recipe I made last week.

So… what do you do with leftover lemons? Lemon Drop Martinis? Juice the lemons and freeze them into cubes? Zest the lemons and use the zest in your sauces and smoothies? Make lemonade? Me…. I make Not-Your-Typical-Lemon-Bars. Or as I like to call them Lemon Cloud Bars…. because the White Chocolate Chips are like little clouds floating in/on the lemon bars.

These bars are tart and have just the right notes of sweet and tart. I think it might work well with a raspberry or blueberry sauce. I need to find a recipe for that.

Pan size: 8×8

Servings: Depending on how small you like your bars: 15 small bite-sized bars or 9 good-sized ones.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup AP flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

2 Tbsp whip cream vodka

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp fresh lemon zest

2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

Take a small handful of white chocolate chips and set aside.

In large bowl, stir together: AP flour, sugar, salt. Then mix in (with a blender) the soft butter.

Normally, it’s just Birthday Month (November), but we (note, the hubby will not admit to this) started the Birthday “season” off in October this year. And I managed to continue it through October, all the way through November. Really not all that hard to do if you “know how to work it.” WooHoo, and I do!

So… here’s how “The Season” went this year:

OCTOBER’s Festivities

Weekend Trip to Denver to see my beloved Peyton and Broncos (birthday present from Hubby)

Wicked at The Smith’s Center (birthday present from Mom)

Weekend Trip to Santa Fe, NM (because the hubby was out of town, and Mom and I have never been so … why not?!)

Golf w/ Mom

Halloween Candy Distribution while Drinking Wine Evening

NOVEMBER’s Festivities

Homecooked Seafood Dinner (with salmon and King crab legs flown in from Pike’s in Seattle)

Champagne Brunch at Mozen inside the Mandarin Oriental

Trip to SoCA to see family and celebrate my cousin’s b-day too

Golf w/ hubby and Mom at Bali Hai (my first time playing here)

Dinner at Todd’s Unique Dining in Henderson

Girlie Tea (and sparkling wine) Party at English’s Town Square

FTDFTD

Happy Hour at Tommy Bahamas

Lunch at Cili’s (Bali Hai) to celebrate another friend’s November birthday (woohoo!)

So… with the Doom and Gloom looking clouds outside, I decided to bake…. and have a glass or 2 (or a bottle of sparkly). No judgment! LOL! 🙂

It’s a good thing I don’t live someplace where it’s cloudy all the time, otherwise I’d be baking up a storm (ha.. ha.. pun) all the time.

Today’s muffins are a little bit of this and that… and packed full of yumminess. This oughta be good for a Grab n Go breakfast. Or as a snack. I’m thinking with the chia seeds and nuts, this might be a good post-workout snack with a green smoothie.

As some or all of you know, I like to experiment with recipes and add booze. Why? Because why not. It’s fun and I find it helps keep a product more moist and pump up flavors. But that might just be me. Feel free to NOT use the booze. In this recipe…. you might even consider a bit of apple cider.